. >>> fears of the fiscal cliff are taking some of the holiday cheer out of wall street. cnn's alison kosik is watching the post christmas trading. she joins us next. >>> retailers were hoping shoppers will spend big today. early figures show holiday sales slum slumped to the lowest levels in three years. alison kosik, every time i drive by the mall, the parking lot was full. every time i went in one, there were people everywhere. what is behind the weak sales this year and can post christmas shoppers really turn things around now? >> you make good points, victor. analysts are telling us there are two big factors at work here. hurricane sandy, hit holiday shopping right when it was beginning to rev up in early november. then the worries about the fiscal cliff they took over everybody's pocketbooks. people are really worried their taxes going up. so what do you get? you get holiday sales not doing too hot. holiday sales are up a little less than 1%, winds up being the weakest growth in three years. it is still early. these numbers are still rolling in. but, you know what,